Ever feel like Lady Luck is flippin' you the bird and mooning you at the same time?

And, laughing hysterically about it?

No? Not lately?

That's probably because she has been too busy with me.

I cannot possibly count the number of times I have said "you have got to freakin' be kidding me!" during the past two weeks.

It has been nothing seriously life-threatening, but certainly enough threaten my sanity.

My only saving grace has been my friend, the Cannuck. She understands the chaos that is my life because we live virtually parallel lives - our husbands are very much alike (personalities, work-ethic, sense of humor and a true love of sarcasm) and she has three young children spaced at almost the same intervals as mine.

And, we shar a love of coconut rum. If that isn't the basis for a true friendship, I don't know what is.

Our parallel lives get wildly out of line when it comes to our housing.

She lives in a fabulous brand-new duplex with an ideal yard and driveway for young children and their toys. They have the perfect set-up for entertaining - at which they are masters.
 
My house, while nice, is older and at the stage where things are starting to go wrong (the dishwasher is broken, the water pressure has serious issues... I do have a very good landlord, though!)

Our driveway is a steep decline which makes it a bit difficult for kiddos to learn to ride their bikes. We do have a great yard for the kids, but the mosquitoes are beyond terrible out here. It doesn't help that I have one kid who is allergic to mosquito bites and her baby sister is showing signs of a strong sensitivity to them as well. Fortunatley, not to the allergy level yet. The Cannuck lives closer to the mountains where I think they have a total of three mosquitoes for the entire town.

But where she really has the advantage is the neighbors.

I have a car repair shop and an abandoned furniture factory on either side of me.

The Cannuck has some of the most fabulous Italians one could ever meet living right next to her, and they in turn have great friends. Quite often at the end of the day, the International Coaliltion (Canadian, American, Italian) will get together for wine and beer and great conversation.

She has undoubtedly sensed my frustration - hard to miss when a phone call starts out with

"Hello?"

"You are not going to freakin' believe this!"

Light-hearted laughter followed by "What now!?"

She has invited me over quite a few times recently. Some were planned events, but I am convinced some where sanity saving invites. I think she was scared of having to answer all the questions that would follow when they found me curled up in a corner in the BX sucking my thumb and singing the entire soundtrack from High School Musical.

The Italians were there during a few of the sanity-savior visits and I now totally understand why she seems far less frazzled than I do the majority of the time.

It is indescribable how much a bottle of wine, an Italian-American dictionary, one Italian who speaks near-perfect English, hearty laughter, and just being surrounded by good people can do for one's spirit.

Now matter how rough it had been and all the little inconveniences and annoyances that had come my way, the days that ended on the Cannuck's patio left me feeling "va bene."

Va bene.